Jazz | Fusion 762 Items

A cult album from 1968 that has long since become known as a groove classic across genre boundaries, now for the first time as a deluxe edition, freshly remastered, with bonus tracks and attractive packaging. Along with Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby was the only world-famous jazz harpist. Thanks to deep grooves and sophisticated orchestral sounds, “Afro-Harping” is her most famous album to date, which is continually breathed new life into thanks to samples and remixes by Pete Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Dee (aka J Dilla), Madlib, Flying Lotus and others. Remastered from the original ¼-inch tapes by Alex Wharton/Abbey Road Studios and featuring eight strong, previously unreleased alternate tracks, including an explosive version of the single “Soul Vibrations”, the classic album is now available for the first time in a high-quality format appropriate to its ever-growing importance.

2-lp: gatefold sleeve, padded black inner sleeves, illustrated eight-page insert with detailed liner notes by Seán Casey/Shindig! magazine.

Donald Byrd was off to the races after joining Blue Note in 1958 and had fully hit his hard bop stride by 1961 with his excellent album "Royal Flush". Joining the trumpeter was a state-of-the-art rhythm section featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums plus Byrd’s frequent collaborator Pepper Adams on bari sax.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Der Saxophonist Sam Rivers hatte sich schon sehr früh in seiner Karriere durch bemerkenswerte Originalität ausgezeichnet. Nach einem kurzen Intermezzo im zweiten großen Quintett von Miles Davis, spielte Rivers im Dezember 1964 für Blue Note sein Debütalbum “Fuchsia Swing Song” ein. Das Repertoire bestand aus sechs Kompositionen von Rivers, die zwar fest im Post-Bop und Blues wurzelten, aber die avantgardistischen Tendenzen des Saxophonisten auch nicht leugnen konnten. Das Highlight des Albums ist die atemberaubende Ballade “Beatrice”, die später sogar von den Tenor-Giganten Joe Henderson und Stan Getz aufgegriffen und interpretiert wurde.

BLUE NOTE CLASSIC VINYL EDITION: Stereo, komplett analog von Kevin Gray von den Originalbändern gemastert, Optimal-Pressung (180 g), wattierte Innenhülle.

One of the great line-ups of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers coalesced when saxophonist Wayne Shorter joined trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt, as heard on the 1960 album "A Night In Tunisia". Opening with a fiery version of Dizzy Gillespie’s famous piece, the rest of the set showcased new bandmember originals.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had already led nine dates for Blue Note Records by the time he arrived at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on February 7, 1960 with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey, but on that day the quartet laid down what would become his masterpiece: Soul Station.
The crystalline six-song set was a showcase for Mobley’s lyrical flow from the breezy opening take on Irving Berlin’s “Remember” through bluesy originals like “Dig Dis” and the title track, and the swinging up-tempo numbers “This I Dig of You” and “Split Feelin’s.” Soul Station endures as a jazz classic for the ages.

Why you'll love it...
Straight Ahead, featuring saxophonists Oliver Nelson and Eric Dolphy, is the VMP Classics Record of the Month for April 2024. It's pressed on 180g black vinyl, with lacquers cut from master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Lee Morgan’s 1968 album "Taru" found the trumpeter at a crossroads exploring a variety of styles from modal jazz and post-bop to beautiful balladry and funky boogaloos. The band here is notable for the elevating presence of guitarist George Benson and the addition of tenor saxophonist Bennie Maupin.

BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Stereo, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a Gatefold Sleeve with deluxe tip-on jacket.

Even by the high-water marks set by Herbie Hancock’s tremendous 1960s Blue Note output, 1965’s Maiden Voyage remains one of the pinnacle artistic achievements of the great pianist’s career. Hancock is joined here by his Miles Davis Quintet bandmates Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, along with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and George Coleman on tenor saxophone. The quintet embarks on an oceanic exploration of five original Hancock compositions, several of which have since become enduring standards of the jazz lexicon including the title track, “Eye of the Hurricane,” and “Dolphin Dance.”

Virtually all serious and even casual music lovers ought to be familiar with, or at least are likely to have heard The Dave Brubeck Quartet, even without realizing it — for the quartet's best-known hit "Take Five" has graced the soundtracks of multiple films, including "Mighty Aphrodite," "Pleasantville" and "Constantine." The piece is famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody, as well as its use of unusual 5/4 time — so distinctive, it's a rare jazz track that became a pop hit.
Including the monster hit "Take Five", the Brubeck Quartet's "Time Out" is a jazz and audiophile classic. Every album collection needs a copy. And now, cut at 33 1/3 RPM on 200-gram premium vinyl, pressed at Quality Record Pressings (Acoustic Sounds' own industry-lauded LP manufacturer), Analogue Productions brings you "Time Out" renewed.
Like its 45 RPM sibling, "Time Out" is presented here packaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket. Inside are eight fantastic black and white images shot during the recording session at Columbia's famous 30th Street Studios. Sony Music supplied the images for use in our SACD reissue, and gave us persmission to use them in our LP reissue as well.
The jacket is also special — very heavy-duty. It's produced for us by Stoughton Printing featuring a printed wrap mounted to a heavyweight chipboard shell, producing an authentic ‚old school‘ look and feel. This jacket is a beauty! Never has "Time Out's" colorful iconic cover art looked so vibrant.
The record label's sales executives didn't want a painting on the cover when "Time Out" debuted in 1959 on Columbia Records, Brubeck told an interviewer. An entire album of originals? That wouldn't work either, he was told. Some standards and some show tunes were needed in the mix. Fortunately, Brubeck ignored the conventional wisdom and "Time Out" became the original classic we know it as today. Brubeck became proof that creative jazz and popular success can go together.
The album was intended as an experiment using musical styles Brubeck discovered abroad while on a United States Department of State-sponsored tour of Eurasia. In Turkey, he observed a group of street musicians performing a traditional Turkish folk song that was played in 9/8 time, a rare meter for Western music. Paul Desmond, who was Brubeck's alto saxophonist, wrote "Take Five“, at Brubeck's urging to try and write a song in quintuple (5/4) time.
"Time Out" peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. "Take Five" became a mainstream hit, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 5 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey, the precursor to today's Adult Contemporary charts. The song was included in countless movies and television soundtracks and still receives significant radio play.

Recorded in 1965 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey, Roland Kirk's album Rip, Rig and Panic finds him teamed with the most awesome rhythm section he ever recorded with: pianist Jaki Byard, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. It received a 5 stars rating on AllMusic, with reviewer Thom Jurek stating that "Rip, Rig, and Panic may be pre-Rahsaan Roland Kirk's greatest outing. Kirk and his quartet moved through a series of musicological changes that defined him as an artist at the time. Five of the seven compositions are his, and reach through each of the phases that Kirk was interested in integrating into his compositional and improvisational voice. Positively smashing."